


Catch Me

by HematiteBadger



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Missing Scene, episode 87
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-02
Updated: 2017-03-02
Packaged: 2018-09-27 19:37:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,466
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10042919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HematiteBadger/pseuds/HematiteBadger
Summary: Everything is changing. Maybe that's okay.





	

The sky above the ship was bright blue, with only the faintest wisps of cloudy white drifting across it. Looking up from the deck, it would have been easy for Keyleth to miss the slightly darker patch of blue on blue that peeked above the rigging, the bit of wispy white far closer than the clouds, if she hadn’t been looking for it. She smiled. Percy had found his ideal place up in the open air, and she could certainly relate. Hopefully he was up for a little company while he was up there.

She was starting to get the hang of clambering about in the rigging, although she had nowhere near the ease of it that the crew did, or Percy himself for that matter. Besides, she had better, more appropriate ways to reach him. She spread her arms wide, borrowed a shape that was almost as familiar as her own, and took to the sky. She spiraled upward on dark wings, feeling out the currents and finding her equilibrium in the wild salt air. The view from up here was heady, the sea appearing even more endless and alive than it did from the deck. Percy was clearly enjoying it as well, leaning over the edge of the crow’s nest with his face to the wind, and he gave her a brief nod as she swung around him in a wide arc.

This close, Keyleth suddenly had her doubts about dropping in on him. He had always been the sort of person who needed a certain amount of alone time, and between the close quarters of the ship and his new social entanglements it was probably even harder than usual for him to find it. Was she intruding on him when he’d specifically moved away from the others to get some time to himself? The last thing she wanted to do when she was already worried about the state of their relationship was pester him. Maybe she should leave him alone for now. She started to change course, trying to look like she was just flying for the sake of it, with no particular destination.

Percy raised an arm as she passed overhead again, fist held out like a falconer’s. The invitation was unmistakable. There was a little bubble of joy and relief in Keyleth’s chest as she swooped down on her friend, landing carefully and comfortably on his outstretched hand. He didn’t even flinch, unperturbed by her small talons as he pulled his arm in to bring her to eye level. “What’s a crow’s nest without a crow?” he asked, stroking her feathers with his free hand. She cawed happily, pleased by both his attention and his understanding of her little joke, and he mimicked the sound with a grin, which set her off in a flurry of croaking laughter. In her usual form she found his bird calls impressive, but to her crow’s ears, his accent was _terrible_.

He held his arm out to the side, positioning her over the floor and giving her room to change back, which she did with a little hop off his hand. He touched her back, steadying her in the second while she found her feet again, then leaned against the railing again. “Did you need something?”

Yes, absolutely she needed something. She needed to know that she wasn’t losing her best friend to someone new, that she hadn’t done something wrong to drive him away or make him lose interest. But she didn’t know how to ask, didn’t even know if there was a way to ask, and so she just settled in on the railing next to him. “I just… wanted to hang out.” _Like we used to_.

Did her voice waver? Percy’s head tilted, confused for a moment before he smiled. He shifted over so his shoulder rested against hers. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? What with… well, everything.”

“Yeah.” Keyleth leaned into him in turn, and the two of them stood there for some time. He didn’t say anything further, and so neither did she. And that was all right, wasn’t it? Before “well, everything,” they’d spent plenty of time just enjoying each other’s company without talking, and she’d always thought that was a _good_ thing, that they were close enough that they didn’t always need to fill the space between them. It had been nice, before she was worried about what it might mean.

“You don’t need to worry,” Percy said suddenly, breaking the silence, and Keyleth nearly jumped out of her skin. Where had _that_ come from? Was he reading her thoughts now? “Sorry,” he continued. “I don’t mean to pry, but you are _very_ tense.” A nudge against her arm for emphasis, and now that he pointed it out Keyleth could feel the tightness in her muscles. “Not that it isn’t completely understandable.”

“No?” Keyleth had no idea how to respond to that.

“Of course.” He gave her a kind look, a little touch on her hand. “We all know how important this quest is to you, Keyleth. We all know the kind of pressure you’re under. But you don’t need to pressure _yourself_ on top of it. You’re far too impressive as a druid and as a person to doubt yourself in the way that you do.”

It took Keyleth a moment to understand, to realize that his reassurances had been about her Aramente and not his recent absence, and for a moment she was wounded that he hadn’t even noticed what was bothering her. But… it was harder to worry that he’d somehow lost interest in her when he was calling her ‘impressive’ in that matter-of-fact tone of voice. Harder, but Keyleth was very good at worrying. “You think so?” It was a weak, pointless thing to say, sad and insecure and not actually touching on the thing she was currently sad and insecure _about_.

“I’d be an idiot not to at this point.” Percy shook his head, exhaling a little laugh. “Yesterday I watched you bend the sea to your will. And magic or no, it was _your_ strength that did it. _You_ were the one who refused to relent when it bore down on you. And _that’s_ what’s going to serve you in whatever test your people have prepared for you” Another shake of his head, gently amazed, and Keyleth felt herself glowing at the pride in his voice. “You practically fell off the bloody ship, and you still wouldn’t let that stop you from fighting. And for what? For the sake of a trapped stranger who’ll likely do you more harm than good in the long run, but who you couldn’t just leave where he was.”

One of the little things Keyleth was learning out in the wide world was that sometimes people who sounded like they were talking about one thing were really talking about something else, and that sometimes it wasn’t polite to point this out. She was pretty sure this was one of those times. “I let myself fall because I knew you would catch me,” she said quietly. The memory of that certainty rushed in like the sea, and she held firm and let it wash away her doubt. She had trusted him to be there for her, and he had been there. Whatever fear she might have about losing him, he had been there.

“I hope that faith will serve you as well.” A flicker of sadness crept into Percy’s smile. “You know how I feel about promises,” he said. “But I will say that anything that intends to keep me from being there to catch you when you need it will have its work cut out for it.”

It shouldn’t have been quite so easy to believe. And maybe, to some extent, it wasn’t. Maybe there was still a flicker of doubt, trailing raggedly behind her like seaweed off a stone. But Percy was wrapping his arm tight around her shoulders and, as he had said, the uncertainty was going to have its work cut out for it to break through the way he held her.

Everything was changing. Some things were worse. But maybe not everything.

Keyleth snuggled in against Percy’s side. “Thank you for catching me,” she mumbled, and hoped he knew that she didn’t just mean yesterday.

An affirmative murmur as he rested his head on top of hers. “Thank you for saving the life of a desperate man in a cage,” he returned, and she definitely knew that he didn’t just mean yesterday.

 _I love you_. Keyleth thought about saying it, but then she thought that perhaps she was already saying it, and so was he. There was little enough space between them now, and it didn’t need to be filled with words.


End file.
